London Shepherd's Bush Empire FM / It Bites / Vega

23 March 2013

FM Tour Diary: London Shepherd's Bush Empire - 23 March 2013

9.30am again and I'm wide awake. It's very residential round here, we don't appear
to be near any shops so I forego coffee and instead shave and shower. Jick is stirring,
we're once again leaving at midday for the relatively short drive into West London
and the Shepherd's Bush Empire. We're stopping on the way in Ealing to pick up some
more T-shirts as we're running low on a few sizes. It's another cold day but the
snow is holding off where we are, the roads are clear and the drive into London is
straightforward. We collect the merchandise and arrive at the Empire around 1.30pm.
The entrance takes you pretty much directly onto the stage and it's an awe-inspiring
sight looking out from the stage out to this beautiful theatre. For all you history
buffs out there the Empire was built in 1903 as a Music Hall and it still retains
lots of the original architecture. In 1953 it became the BBC Television Theatre.
Since 1991, it has operated as a music venue. There you are, history lesson over.

The backline is going up and everything appears to be on schedule. Our first job
of the day is to meet a guy called Chris Grimmer and sign, of all things, his car.
Chris has had our FM logo painted on the bonnet and wants us to sign it underneath.
How can we possibly refuse? He has somehow managed to park it right outside the venue
on the pavement, there are no pesky traffic wardens poking their noses in, we sign
it, have some photos taken, job done. Chris you're a fine man.

Jick and I set off in search of sustenance and we find a café just around the corner.
I celebrate the final gig of the tour with a fry-up followed by a naughty - but very
nice - jam roly-poly and custard… Unhealthy for sure but bloody lovely.

We head back to the venue and I take my suitcase up the four flights of stairs to
the dressing room just in time for me to be called straight back down again to soundcheck
the drums. Today's soundcheck goes without a hitch and with the lovely Jane once
again doing our monitors, as she did last year, the onstage sound is again fantastic.
Soundcheck over there's plenty of time for It Bites and Vega to both do the same.
We've a lot of VIP Pledgers today so we go and meet them for a chat, photos and signing
lots of stuff. I think we can safely say all the M&Gs were very successful and everyone
that attended were all lovely people. Thanks one and all for your support.

So it's back up those stairs to the dressing room to start getting ready for tonight's
show. Being London the guest list is always busy and pretty manic. I check to make
sure all names are present and correct - they are, splendid. The dressing room is
a hive of activity with well-wishers coming and going. Didge has travelled down to
play with us again tonight which is great. With showtime fast approaching I get changed
for the last time on this particular tour and we make our way downstairs to the side
of the stage. I'm nervous but not as bad as I'd have thought with it being my hometown
show with lots of family and friends in attendance.

The band have really been playing great on this tour and we're feeling pretty unstoppable,
confidence is high. Down go the lights the intro tape kicks in. Are you ready London
because we are. Downstairs is seated but before we've even hit the stage the audience
are on their feet. It's still sounding fab onstage, everyone in the band seems happy
and it's great looking out into this beautiful, historic venue and seeing a sea of
smiling faces. We come back on for our encore and Didge joins us for Other Side of
Midnight. We finish and gather to take a final bow.

The reviews of Rockville and Rockville II plus the tour reviews have been amazing.
Thanks once again to you all for your continued love and loyal support.